‘Good Government Show’ debuts podcast with county bright ideas

Key Takeaways

For many Americans, it can be difficult to grasp the duties of local government. What does a county commissioner do? How does local government impact our daily lives? Journalist David Martin once asked the same questions. Martin and his fellow podcasters aim to showcase local government at work and enlighten their listeners with their new podcast “The Good Government Show.”

To create the show, Martin and co-host Carol D’Auria embarked on an ambitious project to travel the country showcasing programs, collaborations and success stories of local government best practices “providing solutions to real world problems.”

With decades of experience in journalism, the two have scoured the country and brought to light 11 unique programs for their first season. From a small-town economic revival to supporting veterans through music, the two discuss how the programs came to be, hear from community leaders with behind-the-scenes details and speak with locals who benefit from the projects. “We want to let folks know, ‘if it works here, it can work there,’” said Martin.

Some of the shows are based on County News’ Bright Ideas column, which highlights winners of the NACo Achievement Awards.

For the podcast, the co-hosts split the reporting work and then interview each other about the various local governments they have visited.

The podcast segments cover the gamut, from environmental protections, programs fighting recidivism in the criminal justice system, homelessness, women veterans’ struggles and much more.

“Every single day, across this country, government helps people in ways large and small and we wanted to tell that story,” Martin said.

He is already getting excited about the next chapter of the podcast. For Season 2, one of the topics Martin is looking forward to is a report on the nationwide shift in libraries as they take on more of a community center role, providing access to Wi-Fi, showers, information and unique programs to underserved communities. 

Season 1 of “The Good Government Show” podcast is available online and includes 11 episodes that can be found on podcast platforms Spotify, Stitcher and Apple Podcasts. Look for Season 2 of the podcast to be released sometime in mid-2022 with 10 episodes.

For more information or if you have a story in mind, contact the team at goodgovernmentshow.com.